Saturday, March 20, 2021
thE OBSErVEr — 5A
VISITS
Continued from Page 1A
after the recent reduction in
Union County’s COVID-19
risk rating allowed local
assisted care centers to have
visitors. He was excited
to have the opportunity to
embrace his mom. Almost
too excited.
Staff at Bullock’s
Country Care had to call
Shira back as he raced
down a hallway because
he had forgotten to have
his temperature taken, a
COVID-19 protocol the
state requires of everyone
entering an assisted living
center. After passing the
temperature test, Shira pro-
ceeded to his mom’s room,
there the two shared an
emotional embrace.
“There were tears of
joy. I could not be any hap-
pier,” Shira said. “I was
overwhelmed.”
His mother shared the
sentiment of finally being
able to see her son in
person.
“It was a great surprise,”
June Shira said.
She later revealed she
had not lost her sense of
humor during the pan-
demic, joking she was mad
at her son for not coming to
see her inside.
“I told him I was going
to paddle him,” June Shira
said.
Kirk Shira is one of
many people who have
been seeing family mem-
bers at Bullock’s since the
improvement in the risk
category. Tight restrictions,
though, remain on the
alex Wittwer/The Observer
Suzie Bullock, owner of Bullock’s country care, La Grande, holds Zizi, on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. the Pomeranian-chihuahua mix serves as a com-
panion dog to the residents of the care facility.
number of visitors who can
be in centers at one time.
Bullock’s Country Care,
for example, can allow no
more than two visitors in
the facility at any one time.
In addition, visits have to
be scheduled in advance.
This gives staff time to
sanitize between visits. It
also prevents the possi-
bility of more than two vis-
itors being at the site at one
time, said Suzie Bullock,
the owner and operator of
the facility.
Bullock said the pres-
ence of visitors is creating
a feeling of elation among
alex Wittwer/The Observer
Kirk Shira visits with his mother, June Shira, in her residence at Bullock’s
country care, La Grande, on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Kirk Shira in the
past brought photos of family members to his mother and helped place
them along the walls.
LETTER
HONOR
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operation of restaurants,
gyms and other businesses
in the county.
Union County Com-
missioner Donna Bev-
erage shared the senti-
ments Scarfo and Anderes
expressed.
“I feel the time has come
where we can go back to
local control and work with
the community to move
forward in a safe way that
is good for all of us,” Bev-
erage said.
Anderes said if the state
grants counties local con-
trol, Union County would
be prudent and responsible
in how it applies rules.
“We would not blow
things open,” Anderes said.
He said Union County
has established a good track
record in how it has man-
aged COVID-19.
“We have met the
goals that have been set,”
Anderes said.
He noted when
COVID-19 infection
rates have gone up, Union
County dialed up regula-
tions to more restrictive
levels.
Scarfo said Union
County officials are in close
contract with officials from
Grande Ronde Hospital,
public health, cities and
others about what is hap-
pening locally with regard
to COVID-19. He said he
speaks almost every day
with Carrie Brogoitti, the
public health administrator
for the Center for Human
Development, La Grande,
which oversees much of the
county’s response to the
pandemic.
The letter the Union
County commissioners
approved echoes Scarfo’s
statements.
“Counties are in a key
position to evaluate local
conditions such as case
counts, positivity rate,
local hospital capacity, hos-
pital system capacity, out-
break clusters and available
resources,” the letter states,
“while also placing those
factors in the context of the
regional, state and national
situation.”
The Oregon Health
Authority, as of Friday,
March 19, reported the
state’s COVID-case total
was 160,994 since February
2020 with 2,357 deaths.
Union County’s case total
stood at 1,345 with 20 fatal-
ities. Wallowa County’s
total number of cases was
145 with five fatalities, an
increase of one death in
each county.
and deputy Jeff Baty went
to Portland to retrieve
Bridges’ ashes.
Other local law
enforcement and emer-
gency vehicles joined
them once they arrived in
the county for the escort
to the home of David
and Dolores
Bridges.
“He was
awesome,”
Fish told the
Bridges as
he and Baty
Bridges
handed over
the ashes.
“Bret has been a dis-
patcher and reserve
deputy for about three
years,” Fish said later.
“He was a very devoted
third-shift dispatcher.
He never missed a day
until this past episode. He
didn’t want to take off. He
didn’t want to be gone.
He was very devoted to
his position.”
Bridges lived in Wal-
lowa County since Sep-
tember 2017.
“We invited him,”
his father said. “He was
living in Colorado at the
time and had no family
close to him and he
accepted our invitation. It
brought our family closer
together.”
Having previously
worked a “help desk”
assisting people with
computer problems in
Colorado, he fit right into
her residents.
“They could not be any
happier,” she said.
Before guests were
allowed in, morale was
suffering.
“Depression was through
the roof,” Bullock said.
Confusion compounded
the heartache from the
absence of family mem-
bers. Bullock said some
residents, because of
mental health and dementia
issues, couldn’t understand
why family members were
not coming to see them.
“They felt hurt,” Bullock
said. “They would say, ‘If
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
an escort of police and other emergency vehicles arrives Friday, March 12, 2021, at the Joseph home of david
and dolores Bridges bearing the ashes of their son, Bret Bridges, a 911 dispatcher and reserve deputy who
died in Portland on March 2 of cOVId-19.
“Nothing surprises me in this pandemic. It
was a huge blow and a disappointment. It’s
truly a terrible disease.”
— David Bridges, whose son Bret was a Wallowa County 911 dispatcher as well as a
reserve deputy
the 911 job.
“He came here and
trained for the position
after he arrived,” David
Bridges said.
A regular graveyard
shift dispatcher, it seemed
he was “always trying to
catch up on his sleep,”
Bridges said.
His knowledge of the
county came largely from
his work with the 911
system.
“He didn’t get out into
the community much,”
Bridges said.
Bret was, however, a
regular with a group of
guys who played basket-
ball at Joseph Charter
School, Bridges said.
He was also an online
gamer.
“We got quite an out-
pouring of sympathy
from the online commu-
nity,” David said.
In addition to his par-
ents, Bret is survived by
a brother in Michigan
and a sister in California,
as well as several nieces
they loved me they would
come see me.’”
She said not being able
to have visitors during
the Thanksgiving and
Christmas holidays was
especially difficult. The
advertisements on televi-
sion showing joyful fami-
lies gathering for the holi-
days added to the residents’
emotional pain.
“It was rough all the way
around,” Bullock said.
Masks have and con-
tinue to compound the
sense of frustration resi-
dents feel, because all staff
of assisted living centers
must wear masks. Bullock
explained many of her res-
idents have hearing issues
and rely on lip reading to
help them understand what
someone is saying to them.
Masks, of course, make
lip reading impossible.
This has meant Bullock
has spent much of her
time serving as an inter-
preter, helping residents
understand what others are
telling residents.
Prior to the pandemic,
between 10 and 50 people
a day visited Bullock’s
Country Care.
“We went from that to
nothing,” Bullock said.
She said she hopes the
days of 10 to 50 visitors a
day return soon. Until then,
though, even the smaller
number of visitors is a god-
send, allowing everyone
to again enjoy a sense of
anticipation.
“Even though it is
nothing like it used to be,”
Bullock said, “it is still
exciting wondering who
will come each day.”
and nephews.
“He was an uncle to
four nieces and nephews
and by reports, a very
good one,” David Bridges
said.
He said he expects
that when their daughter
and other son are able to
join the parents, together
they’ll spread Bret’s
ashes somewhere.
“I presume there’ll be
a celebration of life, but
that’ll be decided in the
future,” David Bridges
said.
He said he has no idea
how his son contracted
the virus. He used to reg-
ularly do shopping for his
parents, but was always
careful.
“He was conscientious
about wearing a mask
when out,” his father said.
He said Bret was first
hospitalized at Wallowa
Memorial Hospital for a
week before being trans-
ferred to Tri-Cities for a
week and then to Port-
land. He said it both was
and was not a surprise
that his son fell ill.
Bridges said he never
was told by a medical
professional what the
“underlying conditions”
that contributed to his
son’s death were. To his
knowledge, Bridges said,
his son was healthy other
than being overweight.
“Nothing surprises me
in this pandemic,” David
Bridges said. “It was a
huge blow and a disap-
pointment. It’s truly a
terrible disease.”
COVID-19 vaccine eligibility moves up for many Oregonians
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — More than
1 million new people will
be added early to the eli-
gibility list for COVID-19
vaccinations, Gov. Kate
Brown announced Friday
morning.
President Joe Biden
announced on March
11 that he was directing
states to lift all eligibility
requirements for those 16
and older by May 1.
Oregon did not plan
on lifting all eligibility
restrictions until July 1.
Oregon officials last
week said they were
sticking with their phased
rollout of eligibility until
they received assurances
that additional vaccine
was coming to the state.
Many parts of the
state have been reporting
shortages of vaccine and
appointment slots for the
ELIGIBILITY TIMELINE
March 22
• counties that attest to
largely completing the vac-
cination of residents 65 and
older may begin vaccinating
the next eligible groups.
• Vaccinations also may
begin for migrant and sea-
sonal farmworkers in coun-
ties where they are already
working.
March 29
• all adults 45-64 with under-
lying health conditions.
• Migrant and seasonal farm
workers.
• Seafood and agricultural
workers.
• Food processing workers.
• People living in low-income
more than 1.3 million
people already eligible.
senior housing, senior con-
gregate and independent
living.
• Individuals experiencing
homelessness.
• People currently displaced
by wildfires.
• Wildland firefighters.
• Pregnant people 16 and
older.
April 19
• Frontline workers as defined
by the cdc.
• Multigenerational house-
hold members.
• adults 16-44 with under-
lying health conditions.
May 1
• all Oregonians 16 and older.
On Wednesday, the
U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services
sent a directive to all
states that the May 1 date
for lifting restrictions was
not optional.
OHA Director Pat
Allen told state law-
makers on Wednesday
that the directive was
“binding” and “regula-
tory,” with non-compli-
ance possibly affecting
the shipment of future
doses of vaccine to the
state.
Brown on Friday
ordered many of the
530,000 people covered in
the next eligibility group
moved up from March 29
to March 22.
OHA Director Pat
Allen told state law-
makers on Wednesday
that Brown was consid-
ering moving up the date
as a way to get the groups
at least a short head start
before opening the eligi-
bility to all.
Under Brown’s new
timeline, vaccinations
can begin for migrant and
seasonal farmworkers
in counties where they
are currently already
working.
People age 45-64 with
underlying health condi-
tions can get vaccinated
in counties that can attest
they have “largely” vac-
cinated those age 65 and
older.
The Oregon Health
Authority did not have
additional information
on what standards were
required to meet that
threshold.
OHA also said it did
not have a list of counties
that currently meet the
standard.
Another 550,000 people
who were to be eligible on
May 1 have had their start
date moved to April 19.